Cistus Canadensis
Clarke - Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica · John Henry Clarke · 6,746 chars · source ↗
General
Cistus Canadensis.
Helianthemum canadense. Rock-rose. Ice-plant. Frost-weed. N. O. Cistaceae. Tincture of whole plant.
Clinical
Bone affections. Cancer. Diarrhoea. Erysipelas. Follicular pharyngitis. Glandular swellings. Hip-joint disease. Hospital gangrene. Lupus. Panaritium. Parotitis. Scorbutus. Scrofula. Sore-throat. Ulcers. Zona.
Characteristics
Cistus is a very ancient remedy for scrofulous affections, and also in scorbutic states and gangrenous ulcerations. The provings and homoeopathic uses confirm its suitability in these respects and bring out clearer indications. It is most suited to scrofulous subjects who are very sensitive to cold air. "Sensitive to cold air" runs through the pathogenesis and also feelings of coldness, of which its peculiar property of favouring the formation of ice about its roots in early winter is strangely suggestive.
Cold feelings: in larynx; in abdomen. "Inhaling the slightest cold air causes sore-throat, which he has not when inhaling in a warm room." Inhaled air feels cool. Cold breath. Stitches and cold feelings are very prominent; there is also a soft or spongy feeling which is very characteristic.
(I cured with Cistus a case of sore-throat that had lasted for years under allopathic treatment with local swabbings. There was an accumulation of thick yellow, leathery phlegm that had to be cleared away by local means. The patient complained of a "spongy" feeling in the throat, and that led me to the remedy.) Trembling (with the fever). Sensation as if ants were running through the whole body (in evening, with anxious, difficult breathing).
There is also great sensitiveness to touch: < from touch. Throat symptoms > by swallowing. < By motion. < Evening; night; morning.
< By drinking coffee (diarrhoea). > By expectoration.
Relations
Antidoted by: Rhus t., Camph., and Sepia. Compatible: Magnesium (the plant grows on a magnesium soil), Bell., Carb. v., Phos. Incompatible: Coffee. Compare: Arg. n., Lach., Carb. v. (cold breath); Sul. (morning diarrhoea).
Mind
Bad effects from vexation
All mental excitement <;
(stitches in throat; cough).
Head
Headache in sinciput after being kept waiting for dinner;
> eating;
< towards evening and lasts all night; in r. side, with piercing pain in eye
Forehead cold, and sensation of coolness inside forehead, in a very warm room
Pressive pain at root of nose with headache
Head drawn to one side by swellings in neck.
Eyes
Stitches in eyes; scrofulous inflammation; feeling as if something were passing around in the eye, with stitches.—Weight above eyes.
Ears
Discharge of water and bad-smelling pus
Inner swelling of ears with discharge
Tetters on and around the ear, extending into meatus
Swelling of parotid glands.
Nose
Cold feeling, or burning in nose
Chronic catarrh; frequent and violent sneezing evening and morning
Inflammation, swelling and burning l. side of nose
Tip of nose painful
Eczema.
Face
Feeling as if facial muscles would be drawn to one side
Flushes of heat in face
Heat and burning in bones of face
Half-way up cheek, swelling beginning at ear
Vesicular erysipelas
Lupus
Sharp shooting, intolerable itching, and thick crusts; with burning on r. zygoma
Caries of lower jaw; with suppurating glands on neck
Open, bleeding cancer on lower lip.
Mouth
Scorbutic, swollen gums, separating from teeth; easily bleeding, putrid, disgusting
Dry tongue and palate
Tongue sore, surface as if raw
Impure breath
Sensation of coldness of tongue, larynx and trachea
Saliva cool; breath feels cool.
Throat
Coolness in throat
Soft or spongy feeling in throat
As if sand in throat
Continuous feeling of dryness and heat < after sleeping, eating and drinking
Small dry spot in gullet;
< after sleeping, must get up and drink;
> after eating; throat looks glassy; on back of throat stripes of tough or leathery mucus
Must swallow saliva to relieve unbearable dryness, esp. during night
Periodical itching in throat
Dry, without feeling dry
Burning high up behind uvula
Stitches cause cough; when mentally agitated
Cough causes tearing pain in throat
Sore throat < from inhaling least cold air
Hawking of mucus, tough, gum-like, thick, tasteless; mostly mornings
Expectoration of (bitter) mucus, relieving throat
Scrofulous swelling and suppuration of glands of throat.
Stomach
Desire for acid food and fruits, but pain and diarrhoea follow eating them
Desire for cheese
Eating and drinking > dry throat and pain in sinciput
After eating: pain in stomach; cold feeling in stomach
After drinking coffee, diarrhoea
Empty and cool eructations
Frequent nausea; with diarrhoea.
12, 13.
Abdomen, Rectum, and Stool
Stitches in l. hypochondrium
Cool feeling in whole abdomen
Pain in groin coming from back
Thin, greyish-yellow, hot stools, squirting out; irresistible urging, < from midnight until noon
Diarrhoea: from coffee; fruits; with goître; chronic; in wet weather; in scrawny scrofulous children
Chronic dysentery.
Male Sexual Organs
Itching in scrotum.
Female Sexual Organs
Induration of mammae; sensitive to cold air; cancer.
Respiratory Organs
Larynx and trachea: inhaled air feels cool; itching in; feeling as if windpipe had not space enough
Asthmatic in evening after lying down and at night
Cough: < by mental agitation; from stitches in throat; with painful tearing in throat
Raw feeling in upper chest extending into throat
Expectoration of bitter mucus
After raising phlegm feels very much relieved.
Neck And Back
Glands of neck and throat swollen; suppuration
Itching on back
Eruption like zona
Burning, bruised pain in coccyx preventing sitting, < from contact.
Limbs
In evening, pains in knees, in r. hand, in l. shoulder
Drawing pains in muscular parts of hands and of lower extremities, with pains in joints, fingers, and knees
Tearing and drawing pains in all the joints, knees and fingers.
Upper Limbs
Sprained pain in wrists
Pain in fingers (r. hand) while writing
Tearing in finger-joints
Tips of fingers very sensitive to cold
Tetter on hands.
Lower Limbs
Pains in knee and r. thigh when walking or sitting
Tearing in knees
Piercing pain in r. great toe (evening)
Cold feet.
Skin
Itching all over body without eruption
Vesicular erysipelas of face
Lupus on face
Tetter
Hard swelling round mercurial syphilitic ulcers on lower limbs.
Sleep
Very restless at night
Sleepless from dryness of throat
Night sweats.
Fever
Chilliness; followed by heat with trembling, accompanied by a rapid swelling and great redness of glands below ear and in throat
Heat with thirst, causing to drink frequently
Night sweats
Sweats easily.